Fiji Tabua (sperm whale tooth) forming a pendant engraved "I - Lot 211

Lot 211
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Estimation :
300 - 500 EUR
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Fiji Tabua (sperm whale tooth) forming a pendant engraved "I - Lot 211
Fiji Tabua (sperm whale tooth) forming a pendant engraved "IMOKE" on a base with plate marked "NA BULA BALAVU". L. 16 cm (chips) Note: In Fijian culture, the tabua is a gift offered at the time of negotiations or atonement (the populations attribute a supernatural force to these gifts). As they come from stranded sperm whales and sometimes from trade, these teeth are consequently rare. As a result, priests engrave names on them as a kind of blessing. Over time, tabuas were used for weddings, birthdays and funerals. The opening up and discovery of Polynesia is at the origin of the European art of scrimshaw, which stems from this tabuas tradition.
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